


Greatest Creation

by Mrs_Potts_Stark



Series: Countdown [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Gen, Hurt Tony Stark, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark Friendship, Non-Graphic Violence, Parent Tony Stark, Protective Jarvis (Iron Man movies), Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-29
Updated: 2020-05-29
Packaged: 2021-03-03 06:00:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24440086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mrs_Potts_Stark/pseuds/Mrs_Potts_Stark
Summary: Tony Stark was 3 years old at the time of his first kidnapping. He was standing in the garden admiring nature — one of the rare occasions when he got to enjoy being a kid.The next thing he remembers is being forcibly shoved into the back of a van. He remembers struggling, screaming for someone, anyone. His mother, father, Jarvis, but his pleas weren’t heard. His yells are muffled as his mouth is quickly taped shut, his vision going darkUpdated and reposted on January 4th 2021!!
Relationships: Ana Jarvis & Tony Stark, Edwin Jarvis & Tony Stark, Howard Stark & Maria Stark & Tony Stark, Howard Stark & Tony Stark, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark, Jarvis (Iron Man movies) & Tony Stark, Maria Stark & Tony Stark, Tony Stark & Stark Robots
Series: Countdown [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1765069
Comments: 6
Kudos: 66





	Greatest Creation

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Raven_E_Stark](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raven_E_Stark/gifts).



> Happy Birthday, Tony Stark! I had been working on for a while now and what better day to post it than Tony's Birthday. So consider this a gift.
> 
> Thank You so much Raven_E_Stark for Proofreading and Editing!
> 
> And a very big Thank You to my best friend for helping. I couldn't have written this without her!

Tony Stark was 3 years old at the time of his first kidnapping. 

He was standing in the garden admiring nature — one of the rare occasions when he got to enjoy being a kid. The next thing he remembers is being forcibly shoved into the back of a van. He remembers struggling, screaming for someone, anyone. His mother, father, Jarvis, but his pleas weren’t heard. His yells are muffled as his mouth is quickly taped shut, his vision going dark. A blindfold. 

He tried to locate something, to give him an indication of where he was. He doesn't know, he can’t feel anything, but it's dark. The people are not nice, talking in hushed voices, snarling whenever he tried something, roughly forcing him back. 

After a long, tiring ride, they reached whatever location they had in mind. Once again, he was handled harshly, his blindfold now wet because of his tears. The people tied him to a chair, and although he was far too young to understand most things, he knew that they would not hesitate to hurt him. So, he gave in, he didn’t make a sound and let them lock the door and leave him there. No food, no water. Nothing. Just him, tied to a chair with a wet blindfold, with no one there to keep him company. 

They often checked in on him, and during these visits, Tony found out that they wanted to get their hands on Howard’s latest weapon design. How? Kidnap his three-year-old son. Tony scoffed; they were being stupid. Howard refused to pay them even a penny. A week passes before Tony finally manages to escape with the help of a pen he had wired to blow. He comes home with multiple broken bones, bruises littering his arms and a concussion. Howard does not come to the hospital. Something about being too busy. 

Tony was 4 when Howard finally lets him into his lab, and he was amazed at the gadgets in the room. Gadgets his father built. He became determined to show his father that he could be like him. He builds a circuit board and his father smiles at him. The only thing he can't figure out is why a man is following him around with a camera. He doesn't realise that all this is for the front page of a newspaper. Tony wants his father to spend time with him but an annoyed look with an angry grumble to not waste his time is all he gets. It's Edwin Jarvis that spends time with him. Asking him about school, helping him with homework, and tending to his injuries. Maria teaches him how to play the piano, her piano that she got as a gift and was taught by her mother, and he loves it. He loves that his mother is spending time with him, is willing to share a part of her life with him.   
Tony was ten when the first time Howard laid his hands on him. He came home drunk, grumbling about nothing in particular. It only worsened over the years, and every day ended with the Stark heir hiding behind closed doors, in fear of his own father. 

Howard constantly compares him to Captain America. Captain America wouldn't do this. He wouldn't do that. 

By the age of 12, Tony has been kidnapped 15 times; each worse than the last. Howard never visits him at the hospital. Tony wants to scream, he wants to shout, because it hurts. It hurts so much that his father can’t take the time to come see his son in the hospital. He begins to doubt his father’s love, his father’s care, or lack thereof. Maria gives him a shaky smile, assured him that his father does care about him. And again, the overwhelming urge to scream and shout engulfs him. If he cares, then why isn't he here? Why isn't he spending time with his son? 

At age 14, Tony builds his first robot. He spends months working on a robotic arm. Making sure the code is right, figuring out the nooks and crannies. The bot is not perfect, but he is useful. He is the first of the many robotic children made by him, so Tony keeps him. He names him DUM-E because he's so clumsy, but Tony loves him. The first time DUM-E comes online he is confused. It startles Tony, but it is quickly trumped by the excitement and happiness he feels because he just created a sentient robot! Over time, DUM-E learns, observes, grows and become clumsier. He understands Tony, his moods, his sarcasm. He knows that he will always protect his creator.

Three years later, Tony graduates from M.I.T. and it’s all over the news within minutes, being the only thing the media can talk about :

**'Stark graduates from M.I.T. age 17’**

The media follow him everywhere like dogs and he hates it. The attention and constant badgering. He wishes he could’ve had a normal life but laughs it off since he knows that it’s pipe dreaming. 

Four years later, he finds out his parents died in a car crash. While he was out buying presents with Rhodey, his parents were long gone from the world, and he found out through the news. He doesn't cry, not for his father, at least. Why should he? His father never loved him. He cries for his mother; he cries because Maria was the only good thing in her life alongside the Jarvis’s and Rhodey. He mourned because now, he could never be in her arms again, he could never listen to her play piano for him. He could never hear her say that she loved him.  
Butterfingers and U are created a few months later, as a result of how lonely he felt. He loves them, he loves that DUM-E now has younger siblings. They are shy, but over time grow accustomed to their environment. They love to hide his tools, make him chase them around to get them back. Soft chuckles and empty threats of donation to a community college are heard after they make a mess of the lab. All three of the bots let out an amused beep, their way of acknowledging their father’s jokes.

Tony loses Jarvis at the age of 22, and for the first time in his life, he feels numb. His whole world crumbles around him, he doesn't know what to do. He doesn’t know what to feel, his body shuts down to the point where even Rhodey could not coax a reaction out of him. Weeks after the funeral Tony doesn't eat, doesn't sleep, he doesn't want to do anything except stare. Stare at the picture of him with Edwin and Ana Jarvis, his family. He wants to mourn for the man that always protected him when no one else would, the man that was more of a father than his own ever was.

Months after the Jarvis' deaths, Tony creates an AI. Something he’s infinitely proud of. A crisp, yet familiar British accent rings through the speakers, causing his lips to quirk up in a semblance of a smile. 

"Good Evening, Sir. How can I be of service?” And he breaks down. He falls to his knees and lets the tears flow, the happiness radiating from him upon hearing the voice he thought he would never hear again. He chokes out a response in between his sobs.

**“JARVIS. Your name is JARVIS.”**

JARVIS learns, understands and adapts faster than the bots because Tony codes him to be that way. To learn, on his own. Just within a day of being activated, he decides that he does not like Howard Stark. Within a week, he is managing SI's most sensitive information, new weapon designs and private projects. Over the years, JARVIS becomes Tony's source of comfort. The only thing he has left of his late family. 

Late-night debates and discussions happen frequently, often ending with Tony’s remark of where JARVIS learned to reply with such sass and JARVIS’s snarky reply of, **“I have no idea where I could have learned such a thing, Sir.”** Although he has no idea where he gets the sass from, no matter how many times he has to argue that, **“No, Rhodey, they did not learn it from me!”** JARVIS and the bots make him a Father's Day card. And to this day Tony will deny that he cried. Rhodes says otherwise and will pull up recordings taken by said A.I as proof. 

Yes, the bots and JARVIS are annoying, but Tony wouldn't trade them for the world. They’re all he has when he’s working, they’re his family. When he gets back from Afghanistan, he spends about an hour struggling to form coherent sentences, as his body could not handle how overwhelmingly happy, he was to hear JARVIS’s voice again. JARVIS, in turn, sounds positively ecstatic to have Sir back, his robotic British tone having an edge of pure emotion in it. Because Sir is home, Sir is safe. After watching their creator struggle for his life, be betrayed by the man he thought to be his father figure, the bots and JARVIS come to a silent agreement to always protect him. 

They will never let Sir be hurt. It is their primary directive to protect the Stark heir.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Don't forget to leave a comment and kudos! Feedback is always welcome.


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